This is reason enough to be faithful in our financial obligations and even more reason to avoid debt. In fact, why not avoid debt unless it is absolutely necessary? Possible exceptions might be for a home mortgage, especially if you pay it off as soon as possible. Or, it might be prudent to take on a short-term debt to get a business off the ground, but only if you don’t jeopardize the security of your family.

Debt is inviting from a distance, but the closer it comes, the more you can see it is covered with warts. Do not become too familiar with debt and think you must have it. It can be a ruthless master. It lacks compassion and does not care about you or your family. Here’s a comforting fact: You do not have to worry about repaying debt if none has been incurred. If you have debt, pay it back. You are no different from a conscienceless world if you easily default to bankruptcy.

Anyone can walk away from responsibility, but what a testimony you demonstrate by doing the right thing. Creditors and friends will be amazed and even drawn to God through your financial faithfulness. At the very least, you will please God and will be able to sleep well at night. Do not be overwhelmed by the overall amount of your debt. Just be concerned about paying back what is owed today and trust God for tomorrow.

Indeed, one of the biggest reasons to avoid debt is so that you can become a generous giver. Generous giving is also a matter of financial faithfulness. It is a trust issue. You really can increase your giving in the face of greater financial obligations. This is God’s economy. The greater your needs, the more your giving may need to increase.

It does not make sense, humanly speaking, and it could even be construed as irresponsible. But, in fact, generosity is being responsible. It is through generosity that our faith is tested and refined. If we give according to how we can make the math work, then we miss a faith opportunity. Our faith grows most when we are generous.

And generosity is not defined by amount. It is defined by motive and capacity. A dollar given by faith with a capacity of two dollars is radical faith, while a dollar given with a capacity of ten dollars is minimal faith. Often givers are the best fundraisers. People want to give toward generosity. So do not let your modest income and small net worth limit your giving. A generous giver is a generous giver, regardless of the gift size.

Generosity starts where you are, not where you want to be. If God can trust you with a small amount of money, then He can trust you with a lot. The more you hold what you have with an open hand, the more you can be trusted.

Lastly, we can be generous givers and generous livers because of the debt of gratitude we owe God. Of course we can never pay Him back for the great love He has bestowed on us, but we can imitate His giving. There is no greater compliment than imitation. He gives to the undeserving. He gives to the ungrateful. He gives to the unsuspecting. He gives generously, lavishly and hilariously.

Generous giving is His nature, and the very nature of God lives in your life through Jesus Christ. Simply put, be who you are. Be a generous giver, because He first gave and still gives to you. You can’t outgive Him, but you can certainly join Him in this great adventure of generosity. Financial faithfulness is f r e e d o m !

Taken from the Dose 30 reading in Boyd Bailey’s Infusion. This 90-day devotional book is a compilation of the reader’s favorites from Wisdom Hunters daily devotional. Andy Stanley says, “I have walked with Boyd for over 20 years and I am definitely wiser for it. You are going to love this book!”

My biggest temptation may be to trust in money more than I trust in my Master Jesus. Cash is constantly bidding for my allegiance, over my commitment to Christ. I know the Lord takes care of His children, but don’t I have to save enough money to be secure? Financial planning is prudent and wise, but not to the point of replacing my dependence on God. When I obsess about the need for more money, I am totally trusting in money.

Ironically, our currency carries the not so subtle reminder, “In God We Trust”. Perhaps it was engraved by our faith-filled Founding Fathers as a warning to not waste our energy engaging money as the source of our security. Can we trust money and trust God at the same time? No, Jesus is very clear about the status of stuff in relation to God’s devotion:

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money” (Matthew 6:24).

You cannot trust cash and Christ simultaneously. Money is not trustworthy. So, honestly ask, “Is my future secured by my savings or by my Savior?” It’s impossible to obtain a 100% secured financial future. God knows we need this uncertainty to stay dependent on Him. Frustration and fear become the pattern of those who focus on finances over faith.

“Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?” (Ecclesiastes 5:10-11).

The love of money and trust in money are both sins. So, how can we responsibly prepare for the future and remain loyal to the Lord? Start with gratitude to God for His daily provision, be a joyful and generous giver and submit moment by moment to the Lord’s ownership. You know you trust in the Lord alone, when your treasures in heaven far exceed your treasures on earth. Treasures left with Jesus produces a peaceful heart.

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

Does cash compete with my trust in Christ? How can I aggressively store up treasures in heaven?

Related Readings: Proverbs 23:5; Luke 19: 8-10; 2 Corinthians 8:9; Colossians 3:5

Boyd Bailey is the author of Wisdom Hunters daily devotional and two devotional books, Infusion and Seeking Daily the Heart of God

How do you know if you love God or money more? Ask, do you worry more about missing your prayer time or missing your paycheck? Are you more anxious about what the Almighty thinks or do you obsess over the opinion of others? Are you driven to seek God’s Kingdom first, or to blindly build your kingdom? Devotion to the eternal or the temporal cannot be a both/and, but a choice of which one really captures your worship.

Money makes promises it cannot keep, like security, peace and prosperity. But the Lord makes you promises He does keep, like grace, forgiveness, joy and contentment.  When the commands of these two contradict each other whom will you follow, Christ or cash? Decide now, so that when you are in the emotion of the moment, you do not give in to glittering gold.

What keeps you up at night? Is it how to make more money or how to make more of Jesus? Set your affections above and you will be more effective below. The Lord is looking for His children with whom He can entrust more of His blessings. He longs for the faithful who use their finances to draw lost souls to salvation, hurting people to healing and who boldly pray, “your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven”.

Perhaps you take your family on a mission trip, and see how the masses live with little money, but with a lot of the Lord. It is revolutionary for a soul that has been seduced by the mistress of money, to see how believers without stuff, affectionately embrace their Lord and Savior, Jesus. Expose your faith to the poor, so you are liberated from wealth.

It is a heart issue. Who captures your affections, your Savior or your stuff? Money makes a poor master, but a useful servant. While indeed, Jesus is the trustworthy Master with whom you can place your faith and devotion. Money tries to maneuver itself into a place of priority, but by faith you can relegate it to serve righteous causes. Love Him, not it.

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).

What masters my mind and holds my heart: God or money? Who needs my money?

Related Readings: Malachi 3:8-10; Matthew 6:10; Colossians 3:1-10; 1 Timothy 6:6-10

Future savings are a wise way to express faith in our Heavenly Father. He does His part by giving us the ability to produce resources and He expects us to not spend it all in the present. The temptation is to take the work of our hands and have it all for now. However, it is when we wait on wants and save for needs that positions us to give in our golden years. “Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be” (Job 8:7).

Future savings requires self-denial and self-sacrifice. This is especially hard for those who are spenders. You want to reward yourself for a job well done, so you splurge and enjoy the moment. Perhaps a good process is to save 10% for long-term savings, just like you give 10% to the church and the Lord’s work. Consider an automatic draft from your checking account into safe savings, so that over time you adjust and don’t miss the cash flow.

Future savings gives you options. Would you like to have the opportunity to take your grandchildren on mission trips or give to building orphanages around the world? Maybe. Or, you may have the simple goal of having access to proper healthcare. None of us want to be a burden to our family or friends, even though they are there to bless you. Savings helps them to help you in your time of need. You raised them to raise you one day. “So there is hope for your future,” declares the LORD. “Your children will return to their own land” (Jeremiah 31:7).

Use the times when you gather extra income to store up for the lean times just like Joseph saved grain during the prosperous days so he could provide during the days of famine. “This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine” (Genesis 41:6). How can I save wisely for my family and my future needs?

Related Readings: Proverbs 21:5; 21:20 (LB); 1 Corinthians 16:2; 1 Timothy 5:8

Transformational Living
What did I learn from the Lord in today’s Bible reading?

How will I respond?